Her Master's Blood or Turning Point
by Metropolis Kid
Summary: Just a short one-shot about the anime scene where Alucard offers Seras his blood, and how it was a turning point in there relationship. Internalizing of a Canon scene... a couple of liberties taken. Hope you enjoy.


**Her Master's Blood**

**(or Turning Point)**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any material contained within this story. All copyrighted content remains the property of the person, people, or organization that holds the copyright. This story is solely for fun.

**AN:** I'm afraid that I've got too many real life things going on to update any of my regular fics right now. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about them, and the next chapter of Butterfly Effect should be coming out in two to three weeks. BUT, I have been assaulted by a couple of plot bunnies as of late, and I did have enough time for a short one-shot'. Hope you guys and gals enjoy. ;)

**PS. **Based on the Hellsing Anime. Possible prequel to "Something Different".

* * *

He walked over to her, slowly nearing his kneeling fledgling. His master had already left the building. Following the Paladin outside, she had left her servant to attend to his own servant however he saw fit. The two vampires were now all alone in the night*.

He was to her now, his gaze resting on her wounded body. And suddenly Alucard realized something. He'd been wrong, though his pride would've never let him admit it. The Police Girl had the force of will required to make an excellent creature of the night, and she was very determined to earn his approval. But she, unlike him, was not a monster; and Alucard very much doubted that she could ever become one.

She was too pure for the kind of work they had to do. She was strong, but that strength was better suited to an idealist who operated within the scope of humans' laws. She lacked the darkness... the perversion required for a vampiric servant of Hellsing. And, in a rare burst of empathy, Alucard realized that he'd been wrong to drag her into the life she was now bound to.

Yet, that mistake could still be fixed... or at least mitigated, to a point*. Dropping to one knee, the vampire master brought himself eye-level with his fledgling. He wrenched the blessed blade out of his forearm and let it fall to the floor with a metallic 'clink'. Then he held out his arm as a single drop of blood beaded and fell.

"Police Girl, you must drink my blood. Only then will you be free of your servitude to me."

Once she drank, she would be free, free to seek out another life. She would be free of her subordination to him. And he could, eventually, go to his final judgment with one less sin staining his soul.

"Y-you won't be my master anymore?"

Seras wondered if he was trying to get rid of her. Had she failed him? She'd tried her best. She always tried her best. And yet... and yet it never seemed to be quite enough. Was that it? Did he no longer want her around because she wasn't as strong as he'd expected her to be?

"No... I won't. But _you_ will become a master of the undead. You will drink blood and walk the night by your own will."

The words confused Seras. She'd thought that her master had been displeased with her and wanted her gone. Indeed, she still wondered if that were true. Yet... "become a master of the undead(?)", "walk the night by your own will(?)", these did not sound like words of disapproval. No, if anything, they sounded more like he was offering her some kind of reward. But how? Why?

"Now drink my blood, Seras Victoria."

The words struck a cord in Seras. He'd called her by her name, no titles – no 'Police Girl', no 'fledgling'. He was elevating her to the same status as himself. And suddenly, Seras understood that her master was not offering her his blood in an effort to be rid of her. He was freeing her of her commitment to him. He was, indeed, freeing her of her servitude.

Another drop of blood fell, and Seras leaned in. She, almost instinctively, extended her tongue and then, somehow, it elongated on its own accord. By drinking her master's blood, she would be free – free to do whatever she wanted, go anywhere she wanted.

But then, Seras stopped as she realized something. There was no place for her to go. Her life, all that she'd had was already gone. True, she could start again. After all, she'd done so before. But... but, suddenly the girl realized, she didn't want to start again.

She wanted to stay where she was. She wanted to stay with him. However, were she to take him up on his offer, their relationship would change forever. No longer would they be master and fledgling. No longer could she rely on that bound, on that excuse. She would be free, and at that point, staying at Hellsing, would be a choice, rather than a duty.

And that was assuming that she'd even be permitted to stay. The girl wasn't quite sure how Sir Integra would feel about having an 'unbound' vampire living under her roof. Seras had made some progress with the lady knight, but she knew that her master's master still didn't trust her – not yet.

In gaining her freedom, Seras could very well lose her home. And if not, her relationship with the 'man' who was currently her master would certainly change. And as the girl's hand tightened into a fist, she realized that she wasn't ready for that to change.

She was still sorting out feelings and didn't know exactly what she was looking for from her relationship with her master. Was he a surrogate for her long lost father... or something very different? She didn't know. And without knowing, she couldn't change what they had. To do so would be to risk losing it entirely.

The fledgling pulled back, before her tongue reached her master's arm.

Alucard's expression shifted. This was... unexpected. It was rare for him to offer his blood to a fledgling, to offer them their freedom. In fact he'd only done so once before. And, he'd never imagined a fledgling actually turning down such an offer.

The vampire master rose, and stared at the girl before him. She was... different than he'd thought.

She believed that she'd chosen to become a vampire, but such was not the case. He'd manipulated her into it. She was strong and determined... as well as physically attractive. He wanted her; and, as always, he'd manipulated the situation to get what he wanted. She thought she'd made a choice, but in reality, he'd simply taken her.

But now... now everything had changed. He'd offered her her freedom, and she'd turned it down. _This_ time she had made a choice. Coming with him hadn't been up to her, not really, but the decision to stay was.

Alucard inwardly smirked. He was free of his sin, one sin at least. He'd offered her a way out, offered it to her before the life he lived had had a chance to do irreparable harm to her innocence, her 'humanity'. And yet she, with all of her purity, had chosen to stay.

Now _this_ would be interesting. Even with five hundred years under his belt, the Count could not remember this happening before. He and his current fledgling were going down an uncharted path, and he found himself eager to discover where this new path would lead and the course it would take to reach that destination.

Of course, it would not do to display such eagerness. He'd already slipped up once and betrayed surprise at her refusal to his offer. He would not run the risk of letting anything else shine through, not when he was in such unfamiliar territory. And so, the vampire master slowly faded away, with only a few parting words.

"So, this is what you choose, Police Girl?"

"I don't know. I'm not ready. Right now, I'm just..." Seras let the sentence hang, not knowing the words to complete it. And then she reflected on her master's parting words.

"Police Girl(?)" She was back to Police Girl? Seras assumed that meant that nothing had changed between them. But that assumption could not be further from the truth. From that moment on, their relationship would never be the same again.

* * *

* "all alone in the night" is a phrase borrowed from the Babylon 5 intro. I just always, really liked the sound of that. :P

* Line paraphrased from Beast Wars episode "Code of Hero".

(Well, hope you enjoyed. Please leave a review and let me know what you thought. Thanks.

Have a good day, and God bless.

Metropolis Kid.)


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